Kingdom Come
by Tsume12
Summary: Already powerful enough to shatter mountains with the swing of a sword, Ichigo finds himself the recipient of yet more power, and trouble to boot.
1. Prologue

_Hi! I _am_ still working on The Bonding, for anyone who follows that. I'm a little stuck and have a Bleach plotbunny running rampant in my head, so I decided to take a break from it for a bit—shouldn't be too long, considering the state of the next chapter._

_Anyway, this story is based with the idea that Ichigo either didn't use Mugetsu or didn't suffer from its aftereffect. Somewhat AU, obviously, but I hope you have fun with it, anyway!_

_**Prologue**_

It was sudden and completely unexpected—one moment, Kurosaki Ichigo was sitting in class, taking notes, and the next he was doubling over in agony, coughing blood across his desk, his reiatsu skyrocketing.

He fumbled for the badge Ukitake-san had given him, pressing it to his chest between gasping coughs—then he was outside of his human body, which collapsed without a soul to command it.

The pain was there, but significantly less in his soul-form, though his already crushingly powerful reiatsu continued to rise. With a thought, he returned it to the level it was supposed to be upon, beyond the comprehension of any other being in the dimensions he knew, which caused his already alarmed friends to flinch and glance to his Shinigami form, despite knowing that they were the only ones who could see him and it would look odd to everyone else in the room. At least this way, it wouldn't crush them, though if they got any closer—

He shook his head slightly as he felt his power continuing to grow, wild and beyond anything he had ever before experienced. He had to get out of there—fortunately, it was a nice day and the teacher had left a window open. In the harmonic note of combined Shunpo and Sonido, he was gone.

_xxxx_

As the ground beneath his feet began to blacken and smolder, Ichigo reached out and tore the air in front of him, creating a Garganta. In moments, he was through the Severed World and in Hueco Mundo, where his growing power wouldn't harm anyone. Even Hollows never bothered him when he had his reiatsu incomprehensible.

Nearly an hour passed and the sand below him slowly began turning to smoke before his power finally stopped growing. It had more than tripled to his own estimation, and he'd already had five times the power of the average Captain.

He took the time to glance around, taking in the circle of blackened sand around him and the fact that he was slowly but surely sinking into the sand he stood on as it disintegrated under his power.

_Not good._

If he returned to the living world now, there was no telling what would happen. He had to figure out how to reign in this new power before anything else.

Between Urahara and his father teaching him how to seal Zangetsu—which, now that he could, he still never did—and his own reiatsu, he _thought_ he could seal away most of this new power.

_xxxx_

It took several hours before Ichigo was satisfied that his power was sealed enough to control.

That accomplished, Ichigo felt that he could return to the Living World safely. Still, just to be cautious, he made sure to open his Garganta in the clearing outside Karakura where once Ulquiorra and Yammy had appeared to 'test' him.

Once there, he shifted his reiatsu enough to allow others to sense it and watched the reactions of small wildlife in the area.

Birds took off and squirrels darted up trees, but nothing dropped dead to the ground. Of course, animals always were more spiritually aware than most humans, so it was unlikely he'd get the same reaction from the humans in Karakura. Most were unlikely to even notice his new power.

His friends, on the other hand…

This was going to be interesting.

_xxxx_

His first stop was the Urahara Shoten, in hopes that the man would have some answers. It was a fringe benefit that his spiritually aware friends had congregated there. He supposed he could understand why—his departure had been anything but subtle, and his body was probably in the coma ward of the hospital by now.

He waved acknowledgement to his friends before turning his attention to Urahara and the former 12th Captain's serious expression.

"You know what happened." It wasn't a question.

"I have a very strong suspicion," Urahara corrected. "If I'm right… if you hadn't left your body, you would have died—physically, at least. If you hadn't left your classroom…"

"They would have disintegrated, body and soul," Ichigo sighed, "I know. What I want to know is _why._"

"Ichigo, the dimensions have had the same Spirit King for over a hundred thousand years. He's not gotten directly involved in anything for over half that time. And, a few hours ago…"

Ichigo closed his eyes, knowing what was coming.

"… he gave up his power and died. He left the message that his power would go to his replacement."


	2. Chapter 1

_OK, I already had this chapter mostly finished before I posted the first one. Following chapters will likely not come as quickly._

_**Chapter 1**_

"Why me?" The question was neither self-pitying nor rhetorical. It was, in fact, oddly calm considering who was asking.

Urahara shrugged, "I can't presume to know the motivations of the Spirit King. Although it is probable that you are the only one who could have survived the power transfer, I doubt that would be his only reason."

Ichigo suddenly felt very weary, despite the recent influx of power. He sighed, raising a hand to rub his forehead, "All right, so… now what?"

"Now, Kurosaki-dono," Urahara grinned, producing a fan from nowhere to flutter across his face, "we tell Soul Society who the new Spirit King is."

"This is _not_ going to go over well," Ichigo groaned, looking to the shocked friends who didn't seem to know what to say. "And shouldn't we tell my family first?"

"Do you want to wait to tell Soul Society?" Urahara was suddenly serious, fan lowered.

Ichigo considered. "Yes. I want to find out what this means, first."

"Very well," the former Captain's fan vanished, "Come to the back and I will explain everything I know."

_xxxx_

Ichigo rubbed his temples, trying to stave off a building headache. "… You're saying that I'm basically going to have unquestioned rule of Soul Society."

"That is a vast simplification, but… yes."

"I'm not even _dead!_"

"Kurosaki has a point," Ishida observed.

Urahara shook his head, "While I agree that this in unprecidented, it is so rare for a new Spirit King to be chosen that I don't think that matters. There is no precident to match—Ichigo has been chosen. He is the new King."

Tatsuki shook her head. This was still relatively new to her, so she wasn't quite sure what to make of her childhood friend suddenly being named king of the freakin' _afterlife_. "Ichigo…"

Keigo and Mizuiro exchanged glances, then apparently decided their input would not help much, as neither of them actually _said_ anything.

Ichigo sighed, "Just my luck. This is rediculous."

No one could argue that. It really _was._

"What will you do?"

Leave it to Chad to ask the most important question.

"I'm not giving up my human life entirely," Ichigo stated, "but… there's no backing out of this. I'll tell my family, then let Soul Society know. We can work out the details later."

Urahara grinned_._ "May I _please_ come with you when you inform Soul Society?"

_xxxx_

Explaining to his family was simple enough, since they had all sat down and explained everything to each other after Aizen's death.

Simple, and easier than he had expected. They were fairly accepting.

("Masaki! Our son is all grown up, now!" being his father's tearful comment.)

Karin and Yuzu had extracted a promise that he wouldn't let whatever his new duties were keep him from coming to see them.

("Like anything could!" Ichigo had been almost offended at the thought.)

And then it was time to head out to Soul Society and let the Gotei 13 know what was going on.

Urahara's vindictivly pleased attitude was catching. Ichigo found himself smirking as he considered the reactions—especially the reactions of a few Captains in particular.

It was almost too bad that the Central 46 hadn't been replaced, yet.

_xxxx_

Ichigo made the shift to his reiatsu that ensured no one in Soul Society would be capable of sensing it, not wanting to spoil the surprise early. Besides which, it was the level his reiatsu was _supposed_ to be upon, and far easier than holding it to a level they could sense. During the day, he usually held it at a level that Soul Society's scanners could pick up, as it was also the level his friends could sense, and it disturbed them to not be able to tell where he was. When he slept, however, it naturally returned to being at its now-natural level.

It was hardly unusual for him to drop off the scanners these days, so it wouldn't cause alarm. Thankfully, the long-distance scanners used to monitor the living world were far from exact—they could tell roughly where in the city he was by his reiatsu, as it was so strong, but not his exact strength, nor would they be able to tell how much it had unexpectedly grown.

Besides which, he'd already sealed most of it away by the time he'd returned to the Living World, and Soul Society didn't monitor Hueco Mundo.

Urahara was not with him—he'd forbidden the man from coming, which had caused a pout, but Ichigo pointed out that the former Captain _was_ technically still exiled, and he didn't want to cause trouble.

Ichigo closed his eyes briefly, sensing for the nearest Captain. Soul Society was still struggling—though all of the loyal Captains, even Gin, had survived, Gin was still in critical condition under Unohana's care and the 5th and 7th Divisions had not yet had new Captains instated, though Gin was to be re-instated as Captain of the 3rd when he eventually recovered.

To his mild amusement, the closest Captains he could sense were Kyoraku Shunsui and Ukitake Juushiro.

Almost absently, he shifted slightly, and in the vibrating note of Shindo, vanished only to reappear next to the bantering Captains.

Both of them jumped when he appeared beside them, no whisper of reiatsu or shift of air announcing his presence before he was simply _there._

"Sorry," he apologized, not having intended to scare them—which the half-drawn Zanpakto said he had. "I need to talk to the Captains—and Renji and Rukia, if it can be arranged. It's important."

The two exchanged glances, apparently seeing his seriousness. And Ichigo _was_ serious, now that he was actually in Soul Society. This was going to change his life completely, and all of theirs, as well.

"Come with us, Kurosaki-san."

_xxxx_

Ichigo looked around the Captain's meeting hall, instantly knowing why it was held in a large, high-ceiling room. Captains flaring their reiatsu wasn't exactly good for the structural integrity of anything too close. Still, he suspected that the room would be a bit too small for what he planned.

"We should move this to Sokyoku Hill," he informed the Soutaicho.

A bushy eyebrow quirked upwards as the Soutaicho opened his eyes a little more. "Oh?"

Ichigo rubbed the back of his head, "I'm not planning to fight or anything, but… well, it will probably shock everyone. I'm not sure the room can take it."

Yamamoto nodded once and Shunsui sent out the message to everyone Ichigo had requested to meet at Sokyoku Hill, then the small group headed out.

It wasn't long before the Captains were all assembled, and only a few minutes longer before the slightly slower Rukia and Renji appeared.

"What's this all…" Renji trailed off as he realized he and Rukia were in the middle of what looked like a Captain's meeting. "… are we supposed to be here?"

"Yeah," Ichigo sidestepped from where Komamura's bulk hid his much slighter form. "There's something I need to tell everyone—but you all might want to step back a bit. It kind of requires a demonstration."

Everyone knew Ichigo's power, so they backed away obligingly.

He took a deep breath, then flash-stepped back further away and tugged the side of his shikhakusho aside to show what appeared to be a tattoo on the left side of his chest, just above his heart. Six chain links formed a circle around a black sun. This caused some raised eyebrows until two of the chain links glowed and vanished and Ichigo shifted his reiatsu so that they could comprehend it.

Everyone but Yamamoto hit their knees, and even the Soutaicho was leaning on his cane for support.

Ichigo immediately re-applied what everyone now recognized as interlocked seals, allowing everyone to stand, but his power was undeniably heavier than it had been not long before, even though they could tell he was lowering at much as he could.

Ukitake was the first to recover his voice, "How much of your power have you sealed away?" They knew he had sealed some of his power in order to be able to re-enter his human body after the fight with Aizen, and but no one knew how much.

"Before, I only had to seal about thirty percent," Ichigo stated, letting the shikhakusho fall back into place. "After yesterday… I have to seal ninety percent of my power."

"After yesterday…"

The Soutaicho's eyes widened as the implication sunk in. "You are the new Spirit King."

_xxxx_


	3. Chapter 2

_**Chapter 2**_

Ichigo's first impulse was to rub the back of his head in embarrassment, but he firmly pushed it down, standing tall instead. He _would not_ be ashamed for what he now was. "Yes."

The silence was so utterly complete that he wondered just how badly he'd managed to shock everyone. Then Yamamoto's reiatsu flared—not much, considering who it was, but enough to indicate displeasure.

Suddenly, Ichigo felt a flash of anger. He rounded on the Captain-Commander just as Yamamoto opened his mouth, the man's reiatsu reflecting his intention, and his own reiatsu unintentionally returning to its natural level.

"I didn't ask for this! I never wanted to be King of more than myself, but now that I am—damn you, Yamamoto, _live with it._"

The Soutaicho's mouth snapped shut, then he reluctantly inclined his head, "As you wish."

Ichigo blinked.

"Damn," Renji muttered, and in the silence on the hill it was perfectly audible.

Ichigo cast him a dirty look, but didn't respond. Instead, he looked around at the assembled Captains, who, aside from the fluctuations in their reiatsu, were taking it outwardly calmly.

"What do you intend to do, Kurosaki-dono?" Byakuya asked suddenly, emphasizing the '-dono' ever so slightly.

"Learn." Simple and vague, it nevertheless got his point across. "But I will not give up my human life."

"Understandable," Ukitake this time, smiling a little. "I would be more than happy to help you in any way I can, Kurosaki-dono." The 13th's Captain's use of the honorific was significantly less forced.

Ichigo dipped his head slightly, "Thanks, Ukitake-san." The '-dono' grated on his sense of self, but he knew he'd have to get used to it. Besides which, there were a few Captains in this group that would need the reminder of his new station—Mayuri not the least of them. The ones he'd rather not have talk to him so formally, he could inform in private.

"Thinking of your human life, Ichigo," Rukia began, deliberately ignoring his new status, "why aren't you in school?"

"I was in school when my power went crazy," he explained, relieved that Rukia wasn't going to go all formal on him. "My body started to disintegrate and I had to leave it in the middle of class. Right now, my body's probably in the long-term coma ward at the hospital. I've got a few days to sort things out."

There was a slight choking sound from Renji's direction at the explanation and Ichigo glanced at him.

"S-sorry," Renji managed, clearly trying to suppress laughter, "but, the _coma ward?_"

"It's actually a good thing," Ichigo defended, "Now I have a legitimate reason to miss school!"

"How can you be worried about that stupid human school?" Renji demanded, his amusement fading. "You're now officially the most powerful being in the freakin' _universe,_ and you're worried about _high school?_"

"Whatever else I may be," Ichigo stated flatly, "I am still _human._ And I _will not give that up,_" he turned his attention to the gathered Captains, deliberately reigning in his temper. "That is all I have to say."

It was a dismissal, and everyone who heard it recognized that. Only two people on the Hill were comfortable enough with Ichigo to challenge that dismissal, and the Captains left under Ichigo's scowl.

"Ichigo, you…" Rukia trailed off, glancing helplessly to an equally speechless Renji.

Ichigo sighed, shoulders slumping now that the eyes of some of those he couldn't quite call 'friends' were no longer on him and turned to face his two closest friends in Soul Society. "I'm sorry," he stated, "I'm just… stressed."

Rukia nodded, "That's understandable."

Renji was slightly more contrite, "Sometimes I forget you're still human."

Ichigo gave a short nod, accepting the apology for what it was. "There are a few Captains I want to talk to outside of the meeting. Either of you want to come with?" It was an offering, a way of saying he trusted them.

Rukia smiled, "I am off-duty today. I would be glad to accompany you."

Renji, on the other hand, winced a bit. "Sorry. I've got to get back to the Division—two idiots got in a sparring match and put a freakin' _bystander_ in Fourth. The idiots are waiting in my office."

Ichigo nodded understanding. Sometimes he forgot about Renji's duties in the Sixth. "All right. Come on, Rukia, let's go find your brother. See you later, Renji."

_xxxx_

Byakuya glanced up in surprise as he sensed his sister nearing in the distinctive reiatsu flares of Shunpo. He was somewhat more surprised when she flashed into view—beside Kurosaki Ichigo.

"Kurosaki-dono," the '-dono' was still a little hard to force out, but Byakuya knew how to address the Spirit King. "Rukia. Is there something I can do for you?"

Said Spirit King winced a bit at the form of address, "You know, Byakuya, if you never called me '-dono' again, I would _not_ be upset."

Byakuya almost raised an eyebrow—that had been something between peace-offering and statement of fact. Was it the only reason the boy had come? To inform the Sixth Captain that formality was unneeded in his case?

"Would you care to join me for a cup of tea?"

Lips quirking upwards ever so slightly, Ichigo glanced to Rukia and accepted.

_xxxx_

An hour later, Ichigo and Rukia were off in search of the Thirteenth Division Captain, not that it was a terribly difficult search. As soon as it became clear that his reiatsu was centered in the Thirteenth Division compound, Rukia took the lead, unerringly guiding Ichigo to her Captain's office.

At the knock, Ukitake answered. "Come in, Rukia," a vague note of concern echoed in the muffled call.

Rukia pushed the door open and stepped aside to allow Ichigo past.

Ukitake blinked, somewhat surprised by the second presence. "Kurosaki-dono," the Captain started to stand, "Is there something I can help you with?"

"No need to get up, Ukitake-san," Ichigo waved off the formality, "and, yes, actually. I need to learn more about Soul Society and its laws. Is there anything you would suggest?"

"Ah," Ukitake considered briefly, "There is a history course at the Academy, but your attending classes would be both difficult and disruptive. I can easily procure a book for you, however, and find you copies of the main laws. You can always learn more in the Archives if you need to."

Ichigo nodded gratefully, "Thanks. Sorry, but I don't have much more time today, and I still need to see Toshiro. Would you have time if I came back tomorrow?"

Ukitake chuckled softly, "Kurosaki-dono, you are the _Spirit King._ Even if it were difficult, any request of yours would supersede even orders from the Soutaicho."

Ichigo scowled, "Ukitake-san, maybe you don't realize it, but I _owe_ you. The least I can do is be considerate of your schedule."

Ukitake blinked, startled and somewhat puzzled by the declaration.

Then the boy's eyes slid towards Rukia ever so briefly, and Ukitake understood. Rather than protest the nonexistent debt with Rukia in the room, the Thirteenth Captain nodded slowly. "I see. Then thank you, Kurosaki-dono."

The young Spirit King scowled again, "You don't need to call me that. Ichigo is fine."

Ukitake struggled with the pseudo-request for several seconds before nodding. "When we are in private, Ichigo, and only if you call me Juushiro."

Ichigo shrugged, a wry grin quirking his lips for a moment. "That's probably the best I'm going to get," he nodded once, "Juushiro. See you tomorrow."


	4. Chapter 3

_Hi! Here's the next chapter. Not much more than a little filler before things start to pick up._

_**Chapter 3**_

Ichigo's time with Toshiro consisted of a very short conversation.

("We're good enough friends that you can drop the formality, Toshiro."

"Damn it, Kurosaki, it's Hitsugaya-taicho!")

At least the Tenth Captain had dropped the 'dono' and everything was back to normal between them, which was really all that Ichigo had wanted.

He sighed, glanced at his short shadow, then to the position of the sun. "I need to get back to Karakura. See you later, Rukia. And… thanks."

Rukia blinked, but before she could ask why he was thanking her, he had opened a Garganta and disappeared.

She scowled at the air where the Garganta had closed, irritated that he had escaped her question so easily. And she just _knew_ it was going to quickly become very frustrating that he could come and go without anyone the wiser.

_xxxx_

Ichigo stepped out into the sky above Karakura, as he had quickly learned that the smarter Hollows did for a reason—Garganta were a bit imprecise, and it was _real_ easy to walk out of one into a wall. That tended to draw attention, as most Hollows were large enough that walls crumbled. For Hollows, it meant prey fled.

For Ichigo, it was simply inconvenient. Well, that and embarrassing. Either way, the sky was safer, what with being able to stand on air.

He glanced around, instinctively locating where all the members of his family and nakama were, then huffed.

The majority of them—not Kiego and Mizuiro, who were at the arcade, or Tatsuki, who had karate class—were at the Urahara Shoten.

Undoubtedly grilling Urahara for anything that he might have overlooked in his explanation of the Spirit King's responsibilities.

Ichigo snorted as he flash-stepped towards the shop, using a leisurely (for him) shunpo. _What_ responsibilities? The last Spirit King hadn't gotten involved with Soul Society for _millennia._ If Ichigo chose not to as well, there was no doubt most of Seireitei would be relieved.

As if. What Ichigo intended to do was find out what was in his power to do, not what he was theoretically _supposed_ to. Seireitei needed to change. And if Yamamoto wasn't going to do it while he still had the power to do so (martial law was still in effect until the Central 46 could be replaced), Ichigo would have to see about doing it himself.

_xxxx_

As he soon found out, there were effectively no limits placed on him. If he decided to scrap the Central 46 _and _the Gotei Thirteen and start with an entirely new system of government—including a monarchy with himself in charge—no one would be able to legally stop him.

Or actually stop him, as he was the most powerful being in the known dimensions. _No one_ messed with the Spirit King, and he was even stronger than the one before, as the former Spirit King's power had been _added_ to his own.

And he'd had power enough before then. Not to mention, according to Urahara, his power would continue to grow as long as he lived, although more slowly now that basically nothing could threaten his life.

Ichigo sighed, scrubbing a hand through his hair. He wasn't going to abolish Soul Society's long-standing government without a damn good reason, but it was kind of nice to know he could. In an incredibly stressful, intimidating sort of way, anyway.

"Ichigo?"

He glanced at his uncharacteristically serious father pausing at the doorway after the others had already filed out.

"Are you all right?"

Ichigo considered briefly. He'd been better.

Zangetsu apparently decided that it was finally time to speak up. _If you do not tell someone of your troubles, they will only grow._

Wasn't that the truth?

"Tired," he stated after the not-quite-suggestion from his Zanpakto. "Stressed, and I have no idea how I'm going to handle this."

Isshin nodded slowly, "Go home and get some rest. We'll figure out everything else as it comes."

"Yeah," Ichigo sighed, "I'll do that. Anyway, thanks… Dad."

_xxxx_

The next morning came much too quickly for Ichigo's tastes. He was up and halfway down the stairs before the memories of the day before clicked into place when he realized he was in soul-form.

He huffed and shunpo'd back up the stairs and into his room to change into his Shinigami uniform, which was a significantly less strange thing to be wearing than clothes that would seem to be walking themselves around to ordinary people.

After he was properly attired, he flash-stepped to the kitchen, not even thinking about what he was doing.

Yuzu, whose power had developed to the point that she could see spirits, shrieked.

Ichigo was apologizing well before Karin burst into the room to see what had so frightened her twin, and the black-haired girl wasted no time in swatting her older brother on the back of the head.

"Ichi-nii, don't do things like that!"

"I said I'm sorry!" Ichigo protested, inwardly relaxing a little at the sheer informality of the moment.

The not-at-all tranquil moment was broken by Isshin's usual morning greeting, albeit gigai-less and with shunpo and proper hakuda involved.

The end was the usual, though the fight had lasted slightly longer than usual and been several times more intense, and Ichigo pulled his last blow to send his father _into_ the wall and not _through _it.

Isshin climbed to his feet and smiled sadly, "I truly have nothing more to teach you, my son."

Ichigo blinked. That had lacked his father's usual lunatic flair—he was serious.

"Maybe not fighting," Ichigo said neutrally, not agreeing.

Isshin shook his head, "Ichigo, you went through an entire war without me. You didn't need my help until the very end, when Aizen fused with the Hogyoku. Even then, you were far beyond any of the rest of us. Others have taught you what it means to be a Shinigami, and you already know what it means to be human. What's left to teach you?"

Ichigo offered a wry smile, "I'll tell you when I find it. I've got to get to Soul Society for those books Ukitake was going to get for me and tell them about the schedule we've worked out."

Isshin nodded once and Yuzu interrupted. "Eat breakfast before you go, Ichi-nii."

Ichigo smiled slightly, sitting at the table at his little sister's urging.

Whatever else was going on, _this_ was still the same_._

_xxxx_

"Juushiro," Ichigo had needed to remind himself to use the man's given name. "Hey."

"K—Ichigo. I have the books you requested here," the Thirteenth Captain gestured to three volumes on his desk, "_The History of Seireitei_ is the Academy history book, but it has enough information to give you a basic understanding of Shinigami history and society. The other two are on the laws of Seireitei and the Gotei Thirteen and a history of the Central 46 rulings."

Ichigo took the offered texts gratefully, "Thanks. Oh, right—I'll be able to come to Soul Society most afternoons and weekends, but I've promised my family that the first weekend of every month will be spent with them, barring emergency."

Juushiro nodded in understanding, "That is more than reasonable. Will you be back tomorrow?"

Ichigo shook his head, "No. I need to get my body back this afternoon. Dad will sign me out of the hospital, but I'll have to catch up on some schoolwork."

"Ah," the white-haired man smiled slightly, "Good luck, then."

Ichigo flashed a wry grin, "Yeah. Let's hope I don't need it."


	5. Chapter 4

_Short chapter, for which I apologize. On the upside, the next chapter of The Bonding is FINALLY moving along again, for those of you who read that. Should be up within the next week or so._

_**Chapter 4**_

It was a good thing that not too many people in town could see spirits, and all of those who _could_ were Ichigo's friends. It made it almost rediculously easy to get to the room his body was in and slip inside unnoticed. Turned out that his body was in the Intensive Care Unit, not the Coma Ward, due to 'internal injuries of unidentified origin'.

He glanced around the room, checking where all the monitors were and where the emergency call was in relation to his body, remembering that he'd been coughing blood when he left it. Returning to it wasn't going to be fun, especially since he couldn't just shunt some Hollow reiatsu to the injuries and heal them. Not while he was in the hospital, anyway, although he sure planned on doing it as soon as he left.

Careful not to disturb wires and IV-lines, he slipped back into his body.

_Ow._

Yeah. Lungs were _stinging,_ and there were sharp aches throughout his torso where he was sure his own reiatsu had begun to burn away his human body. It was uncomfortable to reach for the call, but he'd fought with worse, so hitting a single red button wasn't beyond him.

The nurse showed up almost immediately and was quickly followed by a doctor, both of whom fussed over Ichigo until his father arrived. Isshin took one look at his son and wrangled him out of the hospital.

Ichigo was reluctantly confined to a wheelchair until they got to the car Isshin had thought to rent for the day, where he immediately called on his Hollow powers to heal the damage in his chest.

He sighed in relief, "Thanks, Oyaji. Would've _sucked_ to have to stay there much longer."

"Better?" Isshin's voice was a little too casual.

"Yeah," Ichigo glanced at his father, seeing worry. "Instant regeneration is handy."

Isshin flashed a quick smile before he turned serious again. "Are you all right, Ichigo?"

It was fairly rare that Isshin used his son's name when not actively 'attacking', and Ichigo suspected that his father wasn't inquiring about his physical state. Still, the answer was the same. "Yeah, I'm ok."

And he was. Stressed, but not overwhelmed. He could handle this.

_xxxx_

Tatsuki obligingly shared her notes of the past few days of school and helped Ichigo to catch up on missed lessons so he would be ready for the next day. Then she set about interrogating him on the state of affairs in Soul Society and his new place in the social hierarchy.

"So that striped-hat guy was serious. You're really going to have unquestioned rule of the afterlife?"

"Aa," Ichigo grimaced, "Don't remind me. I'd like to just worry about school for the next two days."

Tatsuki shook her head, "Yeah, right. I can see why. Hey, I've got to head out—bring me my notes at school tomorrow?"

Ichigo nodded, "Yeah. Thanks, Tatsuki."

_xxxx_

School the next day was actually a bit of an ordeal. His friends knew what had happened and treated him normally, but they were the only ones.

"Are you sure you should be in class, Kurosaki?" Ochi-sensei eyed him with clear concern, "You did just get out of intensive care."

"I'm fine."

"Yeah, what happened anyway?" Chizuru piped in.

Ichigo rubbed his forehead irritably, seriously considering refusing to answer.

"Perhaps we should allow Kurosaki some peace," Ochi-sensei stated, though she, too, was curious. Still, she decided to put her curiosity on hold at the grateful look cast her way, and set about starting the day's lessons.

_xxxx_

By the time lunch rolled around, no one's curiosity had been sated and Ichigo and his friends retreated to the roof in a vain attempt to evade their fellow students.

"You really all right, Ichigo?" Tatsuki asked, ignoring the appearance of other classmates creeping up the stairs.

Ichigo ran a hand through his hair, "Yeah, I'm just a little tired. I've got to stop by Ukitake-san's office again tomorrow, so I've got until then to get caught up on my classwork."

Ishida glanced sideways at his friend, "I can help you tonight, if you think you need it, Kurosaki."

Ichigo's lips quirked up briefly, "Thanks, Ishida. Tatsuki helped me out last night, but I'm still behind."

The Quincy gave a brief nod.

Classmates peered around the edge of the stairwell, hoping to hear what was being said—and, thus far, failing.

Ichigo cast an irritated glance at the group, "Anyway, let's head out, guys. These idiots are starting to annoy me."

_xxxx_

The second part of class passed in much the same way as the first, except that a Hollow showed up and Ichigo had to leave to take care of it.

Ochi didn't even bother to ask. It was one of _that _group. They never gave straight answers.

Five minutes later, Ichigo was back, looking annoyed.

"Is something wrong, Kurosaki?"

Ichigo spared a glance for his teacher, "Iie."

Ishida passed him the usual class-crossing note as he sat down.

_Seriously, is something wrong, SK?—Q_

Ichigo glared at his new 'nickname' with a scowl, before writing back. _Damn thing was an Adjucas and didn't last three seconds.—__SS_ he emphasized double 's' by underlining, not liking the reminder of his new status. 'Substitute Shinigami' he could deal with. 'Spirit King' was not something he needed to have tossed around the classroom, even in acronym form.

_And that's a problem?—Q_

Ichigo glared at the paper for a moment before replying, _I have 90% of my power sealed and am supressing the rest.—SS_

Ishida's head jerked up to stare at his friend when the message registered. That meant…

_Ajucas?_—_Q_ Had the question been aloud, it would have come out a little weak.

_Yeah.—SS_

Ishida passed the paper to Chad, knowing that the usually gentle 'Giant' would then pass it on to Orihime.

That _was_ troubling. If, for any reason, Kurosaki's seal was to break...


	6. Chapter 5

_Hi! I'm alive. My computer's not—I had to get a new one when mine died a quiet and not-at-all fiery death. I lost _everything._ So I'm trying to get my stories back up and running, but it's taking some time. So, anyway, I have a sketchy idea for a new story that I'm not going to post for a while, but pre-requisite reading for it would be _Hitchups, _by _The Antic Repartee,_ a _How to Train Your Dragon_ fanfiction. I got her permission to use her morphs of Hiccup and Toothless._

_**Chapter 5**_

"Ishida, relax," Ichigo snorted. "Bakudo—including seals—reinforce each other, remember?"

The look the Quincy cast at the young Spirit King was remarkably eloquent.

"Right," Ichigo shifted slightly, then huffed, showing his 'seal'. Six interlocked chain-links surrounding a tri-part, stylized black sun. "It's not really one seal. It's nine. The only way all of my power is getting released at once is if I try _really hard_ to take them all off together. Odds are I wouldn't be able to anyway—it was pretty hard to release _two_ together."

Ishida nodded slightly, "I understand we don't want them to go off by accident, but was it a good idea to make it _that_ difficult?"

Ichigo grimaced; he'd thought about that and come to an uncomfortable realization. "I didn't need anything but ten percent of my Shikai power to purify that Adjucas. I still have Bankai _and_ Ressureccion. If I need to release seals after that, fine, but if it's something powerful enough to force me to 100% _now,_ then..."

All his friends would already be dead if they were anywhere nearby. And he was sure _that_ would be enough to have him breaking every seal so quickly that whatever had caused him to do it would be destroyed before it knew what was happening.

Ishida silenced, apparently coming to the same conclusion.

"Anyway," Ichigo turned his attention away from that subject, grateful that it was a very unlikely situation, all things considered. "Was there anything else?"

Ishida shook his head, "Nothing I was concerned about. Do you need any help with today's assignments?"

"Nah," Ichigo glanced at the short list of assignments, "I'm pretty caught up. I should be able to get everything finished tonight and head out to see Ukitake-san again tomorrow."

"Oh, is Kurosaki-kun going to see Kuchiki-san, too?" Inoue piped up, eyes bright.

"Probably," Ichigo shrugged. "Why?"

"Would you take her something for me? I made her a present!"

"Sure. No problem."

Chad maintained his usual silence as their group moved down the hallway, none of them noticing Ochi-sensei's curious eyes on them. She hadn't been able to catch more than the very tail-end of the conversation, and she wondered who 'Ukitake-san' and 'Kuchiki-san' were. Something niggled at the edge of her memory from the second name, but she couldn't quite place it...

_xxxx_

That night, Ichigo stretched out on his bed and settled in to start reading one of the books that Ukitake had given him, skimming through for references to the Spirit King.

Something altogether disconcerting caught his attention.

"Oi, Kon," he turned his eyes to the lion plushy reading a magazine on the floor.

"Hm?" the reply was distracted.

"I need you take care of my body and to go to school for me tomorrow."

"Whaaaat!"

"Don't argue this time, Kon," Ichigo stood, closing the book with a resounding clap, anger simmering in his gaze. "I need to _talk_ to a few people."

_xxxx_

Ukitake was understandably surprised when an angry Kurosaki Ichigo appeared in his office in the resonating note of Shindo, not having expected the new Spirit King until the next afternoon. The explanation made an almost amusing kind of sense.

"No one told you about the Royal Guard?"

At the young man's irritated negative, Juushiro shook his head. Well, I am glad you found out before they located you. It's likely that informing you was simply forgotten—the Royal Guard rarely makes itself known.

"Right. _Urahara_ forgot about a higher military group made up entirely of _former Captains."_

When put that way...

"Anyway, what should I expect?" Ichigo dropped into the empty chair in front of the Captain's desk.

Ukitake winced, glancing at the entity before him. "I cannot be certain. Fairly little is known about the Royal Guard aside from the fact that it exists and serves the Spirit King. They are very secretive—they usually stay in the Royal Dimension."

Ichigo sighed, running a hand through his hair, "All right. Do you think I should go to them before they come to me?"

The Captain considered for a moment before nodding, "That would show that you're not hiding anything or trying to avoid them. They cannot _force_ you into anything and, by rights, the Royal Dimension is _yours_. Despite you going to them, you would still hold the position of power."

Ichigo huffed softly, rolling his shoulders. "Better get this over with, then. I'll go see the Old Man and head out. Thanks, Juushiro."

_xxxx_

Yamamoto had activated the King's Key without protest, allowing Ichigo through to the Royal Dimension and informing him that the Royal Guard should be able to give him the means to get back and forth on his own.

The moment the Senkaimon-like portal closed behind him, he was surrounded. Four men and a woman, it felt like, with the weakest having two times the average captain's reiatsu, and the strongest with maybe two and a half times Byakuya's spirit pressure.

Ichigo was vastly unintimidated. Even before he'd become Spirit King, he could have taken all of them if he released his seals, and now... Well. It would be easy.

_Too_ easy. Why did the Spirit King have a small army, anyway? What was the _point?_

"Who are you?" The woman stepped forward, Zanpakto unreleased but in hand.

No point in evading. "Kurosaki Ichigo. I need to speak to your leader."

_xxxx_

Their leader had almost as much reiatsu as Yamamoto, Ichigo mused to himself as the man—a Yoshima Rei—stared blankly at Ichigo for several seconds after he had explained why he'd come.

"You're the new Spirit King. _You."_

"Haven't we been over this part already?" Ichigo asked rhetorically, "_Yes,_ I'm the new Spirit King."

"You are a _child."_

Ichigo's demeanor chilled, "Children don't kill."

Rei belatedly realized that had not been the best thing to say as the air around him grew heavy, making it more difficult to breathe. Child or not, this boy had _power—_though from the feel of it, a good bit less than the last Spirit King, whose power should have been _passed on,_ so he had to be wrong.

"Ninety percent of my power is sealed," Ichigo's voice was clipped, eyes cold and hard. "If you need a demonstration of greater power, I _can_ give it."

He'd said that out loud? But if that was true, then...

"Very well," Rei dipped his head, "I'm sorry if I have offended you, but if you unseal at least twenty percent more of your power, it would be enough to verify your words."

And in seconds Rei was forced to his knees, startled at how swift and heavy the increase in power had been. He couldn't breathe, couldn't ask the boy to reseal his power—

—and the air around him lightened, and Rei gasped in air even as he pushed himself back to his feet. That had been—enlightening.

"Kurosaki-dono," Rei bowed deeply, acknowledging his new liege. "If you will follow me, I will guide you to your new home." Before he could continue, however, Ichigo scowled.

"I've sealed most of my power so that I can remain in the Living World. I'm _human,_ Yoshima. I have a life and a family. And I _will not give that up."_

That sent the commander of the Royal Guard through yet another loop—he was young, that much was obvious. But _human?_ That meant he was younger than a score of years! And _alive!_

But amber eyes glinted danger, and the—young—Spirit King was not going to back down. That much was obvious, and Yoshima Rei was sworn to serve and protect—

"I understand," he bowed his head, not wanting to question an entity of such power that he knew so little of. "But I must arrange for servants and protection—"

A derisive snort cut him off, "Protection? From _what?"_

If he was human—the possibilities were _astounding._ But still... "Both your human body and your soul body," Rei tried to be calm and informative, though apprehension edged at him. "I _cannot_ leave you unprotected. Though your power is greater than any of the Royal Guard, you are still vulnerable to certain things. It is our duty to guard you against those things. And if you are not in your human body, it is left unprotected. If you _are_ in your human body, your power is greatly limited. I _must_ arrange protection."

Ichigo's pressed his lips together, but gave a sharp nod. "I understand." He had _known_ this would cause problems, but... "What 'certain things' am I vulnerable to?"

"There are beings out there more powerful than Vasto Lorde Hollow and there are those who strike from shadow. If you do not see the attack coming, it will kill you no matter your power, unless you have abilities like some of the Hollows."

"Heirro and instant regeneration," Ichigo acknowledged.

Rei paused, confused. "Yes, like those."

"No," Ichigo returned easily, "I _have_ Heirro and Instant Regeneration."

"You _what?"_

"I'm a human Vizard."

"Then your soul-form likely does not need protection," Rei admitted, "but your human body will. And it would be scandalous to leave you without at least four personal servants—"

A spike in reiatsu made the Royal Guardsman stop, "Hell, no."

_"Human,"_ Ichigo stated tersely, "_High school student._ We _don't_ have servants. Or bodyguards."

Rei sighed. This was going to take some convincing, that much was clear.

_xxxx_


	7. Chapter 6

_**Chapter 6**_

"Fine," Ichigo's voice was clipped as he gave in—to _part_. "You've convinced me on two of the bodyguards."

Rei was caught between cheering and sighing—"Which two?"

Ichigo smirked, "For my human body. I can see how protection _could_ be a good thing, two—possibly three—because of shift changes. There's no need for more than one at a time with everyone above the typical Seireitei Captain-class."

"Three," Rei stated immediately. "Perhaps even four—it would not do to have your bodyguards get weary while on duty. You would not have to deal with more than one at a time except during shift changes," he added quickly.

Ichigo grimaced, but nodded. "That leaves servants you probably can't convince me for."

Yoshima Rei was _this close_ to throwing up his hands in exasperation. "Very well," he offered a parting shot, feeling like he could with this fairly easy-going entity. "I'll try again later."

Ichigo chuckled, shaking his head. "I'm sure you will."

Rei relaxed further, glad that the new Spirit King would be one with whom he was certain he could become friends, given time.

"All right," Ichigo grimaced slightly, "Let's see who you're thinking of."

_xxxx_

In the end, four bodyguards were all that Rei could convince Ichigo to accept. As it was, though, those who _had_ been accepted were going to be the strongest he had to offer—not because of _Ichigo_ insisting, but because Rei fully intended to see to it that the young Spirit King had the best protection possible with what little he would accept.

He stepped out of the meeting hall, leaving the powerful entity alone for the moment.

"Katsumi, to me."

Mai Katsumi flashed to his side, blood red hair falling smoothly around her shoulders as she stopped. "Hai, Rei?"

"Gather Honda, Nico, and Peirce. Inform them that the new Spirit King has come to us, and bring them here. The four of you are to be his guard."

Eyes the same shade as her hair blinked in surprise—though she was well-known as the most skilled Kido-user in the Royal Guard, and far from the weakest in raw reiatsu, she had not been expecting such an important assignment.

And, likely, irritatingly boring one. The Spirit King never left his home. Still, orders were orders. "Hai." She flashed away.

_xxxx_

When Katsumi returned with the requested officers, Rei glanced them over and nodded once. "Good. Now, you four have the assignment of guarding the new Spirit King—and, believe me, it will not be the usual guard-detail. I'll explain fully after you've met him. Don't make any comments on his age, he doesn't take kindly to it."

Katsumi and the others nodded, wondering what that meant. Either the new Spirit King was very young or very old, most likely, but—

The door opened and Rei stepped inside, bowing and gesturing for the others to enter and do the same. "Kurosaki-dono, these are the four I have chosen. Mai Katsumi, Kanda Peirce, Jou Honda, and Hades Nico."

Katsumi was bowing before she even registered the person in front of her—a boy. Young perhaps, an apparent teen if one judged by human years, although there was no telling with spiritual entities.

The Spirit King nodded in acknowledgement of the introductions. "My name is Kurosaki Ichigo. Rei, have you explained to them?"

"Not… entirely, Kurosaki-dono."

To Katsumi's surprise, the new Spirit King rolled his eyes. "Fine. I'm a human Vizard. My spiritual form hardly needs protection, but Rei was pretty freaked by the idea that my human body goes without protection, so… that's apparently your guys' job."

Katsumi wasn't the only one completely taken aback by that little double-bombshell.

"Wha…" Honda was the only one who managed any sound in response, and even that was very little.

Katsumi revised her 'irritatingly boring' idea.

_xxxx_

Ichigo stopped through Soul Society, introduced his four 'bodyguards' to Yamamoto, and headed back to Karakura via Garganta with them, opening the end in the city in Urahara's underground training area.

He sighed, not quite certain what was going to happen when he introduced the four to his father. The man might be a little insulted by the idea he couldn't look after his son's body when it was at home. He _had_ been a Captain, after all.

First things first, though. "Urahara, how soon can you have four Gigai ready?"

_xxxx_

Not long afterwards—Urahara was frighteningly quick with the Gigai—Ichigo led the four to his home, dodged his father's unrestrained Shinigami-form attack even though he was still in his body, and slammed the man to the ground. "Hey, Oyaji," he greeted casually, a quick word keeping his four guards from actually eating the Soul Candies they were reaching for. "We've got some complications."

Isshin looked at the three in defensive postures above him, "So I see."

Ichigo hauled his father to his feet, "Yeah. Could you grab the girls for me? I should introduce you all."

Isshin nodded once and vanished into the house, Ichigo beckoning the others to follow as he led the way to the family room.

"These are four of the Royal Guard," Ichigo began without preamble after his father and sisters had situated themselves, gesturing to each in turn, "Mai Katsumi, Jou Honda, Kanda Peirce, and Hades Nico. They're apparently my new bodyguards." Ichigo gave a slight grimace, "So. Guys, this is my family, Isshin's my dad, and these are my little sisters, Karin and Yuzu. View any threat to them as a threat to me."

The four saluted, fists to hearts, "Hai, Kurosaki-dono."

"Anyway, is there anywhere we can put them up, Oyaji? I can hardly leave them on the streets."

"Katsumi can room with us," Yuzu volunteered after sharing a glance with her twin.

"There's the attic," Isshin mused. "It'll take a few hours to set up, but it could be converted into a room for three easily. We don't really keep anything in there anyway."

Ichigo nodded, "Will that work for you?" he glanced at the four guards.

Katsumi was the first to respond, the leader of the four. "Hai. We will need to work out a shift schedule, but that should work well."

"Good," Ichigo glanced around the room, "Everyone's ok with this?"

Karin shrugged carelessly, "I don't care. Not like you asked for any of this. And you know Yuzu—she loves having people to take care of."

Isshin grinned at his son's obvious dissatisfaction with the entire idea. "This will be such _fun, _Ichigo!"

Ichigo groaned.

_xxxx_


	8. Chapter 7

_**Chapter 7**_

"Nico and Peirce the only ones who can really pass as teens, so…"

Katsumi nodded at Ichigo's observation. "Nico, you have the 'school' shift. Peirce will take afternoon to evening, and Honda, you have graveyard. I will take over keeping Hollow attacks down and keep an eye on the clinic, as well as providing assistance as needed to the rest of you."

Then Isshin piped in, pointing out that teens in town were _required_ to go to school.

Things had to be rearranged from there.

In the end, it was decided that Nico and Peirce would share their two shifts, both 'on duty' at the same time, and other than that, things remained unchanged.

Ichigo sighed when he realized he was going to have to deal with _two_ bodyguards at the same time, even if he did understand the reasoning behind it. He didn't protest, though, because that would have them feeling obligated to find another way to set up, and he didn't want to be more of an inconvenience than he already was.

_xxxx_

School was an… _interesting_ affair. Isshin had gotten the two Royal Guardsmen signed up with Ichigo's class—and Ichigo had yet to convince them not to use the honorific '-dono'.

His friends were nonplussed at first, before Ichigo's one-word explanation of 'bodyguards' had them alternating between wincing in sympathy and laughing at his plight.

His classmates and teachers, on the other hand, had no real idea what was up with Kurosaki and the two new kids—especially after one little outburst in the hall during a short break.

"Damn it, will you two stop calling me that!?"

"But, Kurosaki-dono, it would not be proper—"

He cut off the protest from Nico, "What part of 'normal student' do you not understand?"

Peirce snickered, "He's got us there."

The subject was dropped, but not before rumors about Ichigo being some kind of royalty started spreading through the school.

By lunch, even the teachers had heard about it—and it became a problem.

_xxxx_

"You have _got _to be kidding me," Ichigo groaned when Ochi-sensei requested he stay after school. He placed his book-bag on his desk, though, and made no further motions towards leaving.

Nico and Peirce hesitated, clearly not quite certain what to do, and Ichigo's friends quite matter-of-factly sat back down.

Ochi sighed, but didn't protest, instead starting directly in on something that several of the other teachers had brought to her in concern. "Kurosaki-san," she was careful in her wording, just in case; "Several of the other faculty members have said they are hearing rumors that you are either some kind of royalty, leading a cult, or heading a new gang."

Tatsuki snickered.

Ichigo scowled in her direction before turning his attention back to his teacher and focusing.

As he'd been somewhat afraid might happen with this particular teacher, she had a reiatsu signature _just_ strong enough to attract trouble.

"Peirce, please ensure that no one else is able to hear what's being discussed in this room."

Kanda Peirce went to the door, closed it, and immediately began incanting a Bakudo to do just that.

"Nico, I need you to leave your gigai."

Puzzled but obedient, the Royal Guardsman did as he was told.

Ochi gasped, stepping back in obvious shock as she saw a blurry form step out of one of her students' bodies, the body in question standing rigid for a moment before relaxing slightly as the gikongan took control.

"Who—what—?"

Ichigo sighed, "I was afraid of that."

_xxxx_

The explanation left Ochi reeling. Her sporadic student missed so much school because he was a Shinigami_._ A freakin' _Shinigami._ She hadn't even believed in such things, and now she was facing the fact she could _see ghosts_ and her student—her _student_—fought monsters to keep the rest of their town quietly, obliviously, safe.

As if that wasn't enough, he was apparently now the _highest authority in the afterlife._

Ochi wasn't a drinker, but… there wasn't enough alcohol in the _world._

"On the up-side," Inoue Orihime said brightly, "Now Kurosaki-kun shouldn't have to miss so much school! The Royal Guard will help keep the Hollow attacks down!"

Ochi didn't quite know what to say to that. She was fairly certain she'd been given a condensed and heavily edited version of what the group before her had been up to the past several months, but she didn't really want to know more.

"Yeah, that much is a relief," Kurosaki agreed.

"Um…" Ochi felt oddly like a child in comparison to these teens, teens who'd fought through wars and lived to tell the tale. "Should I be expecting our new students to occasionally vanish as well?"

Ichigo shook his head, "We hope not. If it took four members of the Royal Guard to take something on, I'd be getting involved again. Mai Katsumi, the leader of this group," he gestured to the two (Nico back in his gigai) "said she'd be keeping the Hollow attacks down. We shouldn't have too much trouble for a while."

That was the hope, anyway.


	9. Chapter 8

_Sorry for the shortness of the chapter. It seemed like a good place to stop, for now. Anyway, I'll try to get the next one up a bit sooner._

_**Chapter 8**_

Thankfully, the next few weeks passed in relative quiet. There were no attacks by Vasto Lorde-class opponents, no sudden increases in Ichigo's power, and no real disturbances of any kind. Katsumi took care of the general Hollow attacks, and Ichigo's life settled into something like a routine.

Honda and, oddly enough, Peirce helped Ichigo learn about the standard lifestyle of the Royal Dimension (which he had upset greatly, simply by not being there) and Juushiro continued to be helpful when it came to understanding Soul Society's rulings.

Honda tended to be quiet and serious, with occasional flashes of a sharp wit that usually had Ichigo smirking. Peirce, on the other hand, was a bit of a goofball. He took his job seriously, but every chance he got, he was teasing or joking with whoever was nearby. He made friends with an easy charm, and he really didn't seem like the type to have a hidden interest in Royal Dimension politics.

Nico was… calm. It was really the only way to describe the man. Nothing seemed to phase him. The only time Ichigo had seen him react with anything like alarm to _anything_ was the first time Isshin had done the gigai-less flying tackle upon Ichigo's opening the door when he'd first introduced the Guard members. He followed orders as though he'd expected them all along on those rare occasions when Ichigo gave them, and was quietly formal throughout.

Katsumi had made herself into a member of the household. Yuzu was more than happy to teach the woman how to cook—which she had apparently never had the chance to learn—and Karin accepted the new member of the household with only slightly grudging appreciation. Katsumi was making things easier on Yuzu by doing her best to help out wherever she could, so Karin shrugged and accepted her.

Ichigo was grateful that the woman was there. Her presence made things easier for him, as well, which probably also had something to do with Karin's quick acceptance. Without having to chase down Hollows all over the city, Ichigo once again had time for some of the simple things he's always enjoyed.

Playing soccer with Karin was one of those things, and he took silent pleasure in the sparkle of happiness in her eyes every time he could play with her.

A Hollow had showed up during one of their matches, and Ichigo's instinctive reaction was to materialize his blade and move forward, but Karin had grinned and said , "I got this, Ichi-nii."

So he'd stopped, gestured to the ever-present Nico and Peirce to hold back, and watched, knowing he could interfere _very_ quickly if things went bad.

He'd nearly burst out laughing when she'd KO'd the thing with a reiatsu-charged _soccer ball._

Karin had gotten a high-five and a proud comment for that one, and she'd been in high spirits the rest of the day.

He also got to spend more time with Yuzu than he'd had for quite a while—quiet moments where he helped her in the kitchen or read to her.

All in all, his life was calming down.

The whole thing made him just a little edgy. Life for Kurosaki Ichigo didn't _calm down_, save for the calm before the next proverbial storm.

_xxxx_

School rolled around again and Ichigo walked to class with Nico and Peirce in tow, talking quietly about a particular point of interest in Royal Dimension politics. Turned out the old Royal Family were so used to their positions, they still wanted to be the be-all and end-all of Soul Society's laws, barring word from the King himself.

Ichigo wasn't sure he liked that idea. It was some of their corrupt ideals that had been passed down as Central 46 rulings that had caused so much trouble for people Ichigo knew.

"You would have the right to exile them, if you wished, Kurosaki-dono," Nico stated in his usual quiet manner.

Ichigo overlooked the form of address and glanced at Peirce, "That might be going a bit far, but they say that power corrupts. I think they've been in power for far too long, but taking that away from them so suddenly could cause problems, too."

Peirce nodded, "The former Royal Family is far to accustomed to having orders followed. Now that they are no longer our royalty, they have been growing angry at being refused."

Ichigo scowled, but didn't say anything as they approached entered the classroom and settled in for school.

He would have to decide what to do with them—it was a decision he was _not_ looking forward to making.

_xxxx_


	10. Chapter 9

_Ok, so this _wasn't_ up sooner than the last chapter. For that I am sorry. Anyway, here's proof that I'm alive! … and the long delays are proof that I'm _busy.

_**Chapter 9**_

Days stretched into weeks as Ichigo juggled school, Soul Society politics, and Royal Dimension politics. Thankfully, Ichigo could ditch his guards while in spiritual form, as their assignment was to watch his human body. That meant he could have a little time to himself that didn't involve being locked up in his bedroom with a guard on the door.

Bodyguards, he had decided, were _exhausting._

In the Royal Dimension, he could go to Rei for advice with how to deal with things, so leaving Peirce and Honda behind was no great inconvenience. In Soul Society, Juushiro actually knew far more about the laws and politics than any of the Royal Guard, who stayed out of anything not related to the dimension they lived in.

It took quite a bit of going back and forth, meeting with the former members of the Royal Family (whose actual surname had been lost to time) and discussions with Rei, all four bodyguards, and various Soul Society Captains; but eventually Ichigo came to a solution that everyone could live with _without_ planning revenge for centuries.

They were going to be transferred to Soul Society as a new noble family. Of course, they had to agree on a _name_, which might take a while, but meanwhile they would be living in Soul Society.

Ichigo managed to find an abandoned compound with some help from Juushiro and Byakuya, and exercised his power (and some of the near-limitless funds he now had access to) to get workers to fix the place up. Thankfully, the former Royal Family was small, and they would not be needing more buildings built. In fact, they would probably be leaving several more-or-less unused.

Then Ichigo realized something.

He had never let the Vizard know what was going on.

… Not that he knew where they were living, now that their old warehouse had been compromised, but he could probably figure it out with a little concentration, considering he was keyed to Hachi's barriers.

Ichigo sighed and headed to Karakura, resigned to the fact that his life was going to keep becoming more complicated. He'd head out to see Shinji and the others the next day—one more day wasn't going to make much difference at this point. Besides which, he'd promised Karin a soccer game.

_xxxx_

"I'm home," Ichigo called as he walked in the door, sidestepping an attack from his father. In his spirit-form, he was kind of afraid to retaliate against the (for now) gigai-bound man.

He heard return greetings called from various people around the house, though Karin's was by far the most enthusiastic.

"Get back in your body, Ichi-nii! Let's go!"

Ichigo laughed and shunpo'd up the stairs to do just that before jogging back down with Nico and Peirce scrambling to pick up their cards and follow.

He obligingly waited for the two, though Karin's foot tapped with impatience, before heading out to the park.

_xxxx_

The rest of the day passed in a blur of little moments, from Karin's first hard-won goal against her brother to Yuzu's bright smile as Ichigo helped her make dinner.

After dinner was cleaned up, Ichigo rounded up Nico and Peirce so the three could do their homework, which there was thankfully little of that day.

Isshin interrupted when the group was a little more than halfway through, books and papers scattered across the room. "Call for you, Ichigo," he offered the phone, "It's Kisuke."

Ichigo groaned, but took the phone.

"It didn't sound urgent," Isshin offered sympathetically, knowing full well the workload his son had to deal with at the moment.

Ichigo nodded once and brought the phone to his ear with a brief thanks. "Hello?"

"Kurosaki-dono!"

Oh, dear lord. At least the man sounded cheerful. "Geta-boshi."

"I got a call from Shinji today~"

That caught Ichigo's interest, "And?"

"The Vizard are wondering why they haven't heard from you in the past month. I told them you were _really_ busy… but I don't think they've heard why, yet."

Ichigo blinked. He'd wanted them to hear it from him, but he hadn't really thought that would happen. Although they probably would have got in contact sooner if they _had_ heard, come to think. "Thanks. I was planning to go see them tomorrow after school, actually."

"Oh~" Urahara's sing-song tone was starting to get annoying. "Well, then. Shall I let them know?"

"Sure," Ichigo shrugged, "Then Hiyori can plan out what new 'training technique' she wants to try on me."

Urahara chuckled, knowing full well what the young man meant. "I'll do that, then."

Ichigo waited a moment before realizing that Urahara was waiting for him to say goodbye first. "'Thanks. Bye, Geta-boshi."

"Goodbye, Kurosaki-dono!"

At the line's soft click, Ichigo switched off the phone and stared at it contemplatively for a moment. He'd kind of thought that Urahara used the honorific for the fun of it, as the shopkeeper mostly treated him the same way he always had, but little things were starting to point towards Urahara actually respecting Ichigo for dealing with his new position. The waiting for some kind of dismissal before leaving or hanging up the phone, for instance.

Grimacing, Ichigo put the thoughts out of his mind and handed the phone back to his still-waiting father.

"Nothing serious?" Isshin asked casually.

Ichigo shook his head, "Nah, just letting me know the Vizard are wondering where I am."

Isshin grinned, "That's good. All right, my son! I shall leave you to finish your schoolwork!"

Straight back into goofy-mode, and Ichigo's lips quirked upwards in a brief grin. "Get out of here, Goat-face."

Isshin left with a dramatic wail, "My son is so cruel!"

The four bodyguards had quickly grown used to the antics around the house, so Nico and Peirce ignored the playful drama, focusing instead on what Ichigo had said on the phone call, "Kurosaki-dono?"

Ichigo rolled his eyes at the form of address but didn't protest. He'd long since given up on getting _any_ of them to call him by his given name. "Yeah?"

"Is there likely to be trouble tomorrow?"

"Nah," he shook his head, "I'll take you to meet the Vizard, though. Don't freak out when one of them throws sandals."

Nico nodded once, an eyebrow slightly raised as he said "Hai, Kurosaki-dono," in a bland tone.

Peirce, on the other hand, was visibly nonplussed. "Throws what, now?"

"Sandals," Ichigo replied, perfectly serious. "Hiyori always does when I haven't checked in in a while. It's her way of saying she missed me. The others are less… quirky… in their greetings."

"Sandals. Right." Peirce shook his head, "Well, at least this assignment isn't boring."

_xxxx_


	11. Chapter 10

_Hey—quick update. Don't get used to it. I've had a little time to myself this weekend and decided to try and crank out a few chapters while I can, but the opportunity is not likely to repeat soon. Unless I get injured or something, which I'm rather hoping not to. (No hoping for it, you avid readers!)_

_**Chapter 10**_

After school the next day, Ichigo made his way to where he sensed Hachi's barrier, Nico and Peirce in tow. He paused outside it, then flared his reiatsu ever so slightly, careful to keep it to a level others could sense, letting the Vizard know he was outside with the two strangers.

Shinji was the first to appear—the de facto leader of the Vizard knowing full well that Ichigo wouldn't bring anyone who would cause them trouble.

"Yo," he greeted, stepping through the hole that Hachi made in the barrier for him.

"Hey," Ichigo raised a hand in return to the lazy wave. "Mind if we come in? I'd like to introduce you."

"Eh, why not?" Shinji's permanent grin never faltered as he led the way back into the building—another warehouse. Of course, not much else could take—or rather, had the space for the walls to _avoid_—the kind of beating Vizard training tended to deal out.

Ichigo was touched by the show of unconditional trust, though he didn't let that distract him.

Three, two, one… and he tilted his head aside, a sandal flying just past his ear from the slight dodge. "Hey, Hiyori."

"Baka Strawberry! Where have you been!"

"Long story," Ichigo said dryly. "It has to do with these two, so can you wait until we're where everyone can hear?"

_xxxx_

Shinji was so surprised his grin actually dimmed a bit. "You're the new Spirit King."

Ichigo sighed, "Yeah."

Hiyori snickered, "_Bodyguards,_ Strawberry?"

Ichigo groaned.

_xxxx_

As if to prove to Hiyori that the bodyguards were more for show than anything else, Ichigo proceeded to trounce her thoroughly in training. Then everybody else—excepting only Shinji and Hachi. Hachi didn't join in the sparring, opting instead to hold up a barrier to protect the all-too-vulnerable steel that made up the warehouse walls. Shinji…

Shinji pulled his Shikai. So had the others, but Shinji's was the only one able to give Ichigo pause.

Ichigo stumbled over the sudden reversal of every conventional sense he had_,_ then closed his eyes and _focused._

He'd never been subjected to Shinji's Shikai before, but he knew roughly how it worked. Of course, Ichigo fought best on instinct, so having to think out every movement cut his speed greatly. Sparks flew where Sakanade hit Ichigo's Heirro, scoring thin cuts that sealed as quickly as they formed.

Shinji's grin widened, "Heirro, Ichigo? How'd you pull _that _off?"

Ichigo grinned in return, mask-less and still keeping up with only his permanent Shikai. "And Instant Regeneration," he called, guessing that Shinji hadn't seen the cuts. "Haven't seen you guys in a while, and there wasn't really time to talk last time. I've got a Resurreccion—had a couple permanent additions to my abilities since I used it."

Shinji paused in surprise, leaving Ichigo an opening—one that he wasted no time in taking, turning and striking out in the opposite direction of where Shinji _appeared_ to be, knocking Sakanade from a not-quite-recovered grip.

Shinji barked a laugh and dismissed his Shikai, the illusion ending. "What _are_ you, Ichigo?"

Ichigo's expression sobered, "I'm _human,_ Shinji."

Sensing the sudden change in mood, the others gathered closer, Hachi dropping the barrier as the spar had stopped.

"Ah," Shinji dismissed his mask, grin fading as he realized he'd hit a touchy subject. "I forget, sometimes, that you're still alive."

"Berry-tan?" Mashiro was unusually hesitant, "Are you ok?"

Ichigo sighed, "Soul Society and half the Royal Dimension are trying to get me to give up my human life and move to the Royal Dimension permanently. I'm not going to, especially with the reasons they're giving, but I've been having to deal with things like that a lot, plus the old Royal Family—I'm not making Karin and Yuzu move to the Royal Dimension, either."

Shinji's grin returned, "What about Isshin?"

Ichigo snorted, "Goat-face can take care of himself, and I doubt they'd want someone as crazy as him in a position to give orders to the entirety of Soul Society, even if he _was_ a Captain."

Shinji wasn't the only one to chuckle at that. It was so true—and Isshin's time in the Living World had seemed to make him even _more_ crazy, and he hadn't exactly been the sanest of the Captains of his time.

Ichigo's expression softened somewhat as he glanced around the gathered Vizard. "Anyway… thanks, guys."

It was for far more than helping him vent his frustrations from the past few months.

Shinji's expression sobered for a moment, letting Ichigo know he truly _meant_ his words. "You're family, Ichigo."

_xxxx_

Nico and Peirce had both felt out-of-place in the Vizard's warehouse, but were grateful to see Kurosaki-dono relax a bit—even if it had involved watching him spar, which went against every instinct they had when regarding the Spirit King. But he'd ordered them to the sidelines with his body, and they recognized that the weakest of these Vizard—and they hadn't been able to tell who that was—could give either of them a run for their money. And they were pretty sure at least two of them had Bankai, plus those Hollow masks… yet Kurosaki-dono beat them all while his powers were sealed, despite liberal use of Shikai and masks during the spars.

But Kurosaki-dono trusted the Vizard. With reason, surely, considering he had a mask of his own—and then the one introduced as 'Hirako Shinji' called Kurosaki-dono family.

And it was clear that simple sentence meant a great deal to their liege.

_xxxx_

Ichigo rolled his shoulders, feeling significantly more relaxed upon leaving the warehouse than he'd been upon entering it.

Nico and Peirce were watching him with an odd blend of awe and contemplation.

He sighed, glancing at them as they walked, "What?"

The two Royal Guardsmen glanced at each other, apparently uncertain of what to say, before Nico bowed slightly, "Apologies, Kurosaki-dono. We were simply impressed by your performance during the spars."

Peirce copied the bow and, knowing full well Nico would never admit to curiosity, added, "Forgive me! I was also wondering if you knew the Vizard because of your own Hollow powers."

Ichigo rolled his eyes, "Relax, you two. There's nothing to apologize for. And, yeah, they taught me how to deal with my inner Hollow—and helped me learn to use my mask."

Peirce grinned, "That's awesome, Kurosaki-dono!"

Ichigo frowned, "I wouldn't suggest trying it yourself," he warned. "Hollow powers... come with their risks. It's not worth it." And while he couldn't imagine life without both of the other parts of his soul, he knew the other Vizard were different from himself in that Aizen had forced outside Hollows into their souls. Shinigami _couldn't_ gain Hollows the way Ichigo had. They were already dead and passed on. They didn't have Chains of Fate.

Peirce caught the seriousness of the moment and paused, tilting his head, "What do you mean, Kurosaki-dono?"

"The Vizard had Hollows forced into their souls by Aizen. Aizen intended the Hollows to take control—and that's a distinct possibility. You could become a Hollow, and the Hollow would have access to your memories and abilities."

Peirce blanched at that thought, "Uh…"

Ichigo shook his head, "That's not how I got my Hollow. But he still tried to take control before I knew how to fight him." Now fighting was unnecessary, the darker part of his soul no longer able to hurt him in any way. Of course, the reverse was also true, which could be annoying at times.

Peirce bit his lip, fighting his curiosity. He wanted to know, but didn't want to ask so personal a question.

Ichigo caught his bodyguard's dilemma. "My Hollow was born from my soul when I turned partly into a Hollow."

Peirce's grin returned, "Thank you, Kurosaki-dono!"

"Indeed," Nico murmured, feeling that they had been privileged with information that few knew. "Thank you for your trust."

Ichigo shrugged somewhat uncomfortably, "Anyway, we've got homework, so we'd better get home."

Neither Guardsman protested, and Ichigo hesitantly moved into a slow Shunpo—mindful of the speeds that human bodies (and standard gigai) weren't really made to go at. But the two bodyguards—Peirce cursing—managed to do the same, barely keeping up.

Ichigo hid a smirk and decided to talk to Urahara about gigai capable of taking a little more active reiatsu use.


	12. Chapter 11

_On _**The Bonding**:_ I have the next chapter about half finished, but I'm stuck at the moment, so I'm posting this even though I'd prefer to get them both out at the same time. I figure my profile has been quiet long enough. I have several other stories started on my computer, and may start posting one of them soon._

_On this story—here's something I didn't notice until it was pointed out via review. I never gave proper physical descriptions of the Royal Guards living with Ichigo! Um, oops? So, despite the fact I would have preferred to integrate them into the story, here they are:_

_Mai Katsumi: 5'2'' Blood-red hair and eyes. Hair a little longer than shoulder-length. Slender and, barring hair and eye color, not physically intimidating at all. Mainly a kido-user when fights turn serious, though she has the ability to use Shikai and Bankai, like all of the Royal Guard. (Former Shinigami Captains, after all.) Shikai produces a silvery armor across her forearms capable of deflecting energy attacks such as kido or kido-type Zanpakto attacks. Shikai name: Karasu-aojiroi (Pale Raven)_

_Jou Honda: 5'5" Short brown hair, brown eyes, some European descent appearance-wise. Though not the tallest, most wouldn't want to take him on in a fist-fight without a darn good reason. Serious about training, quiet, polite. Hakuda user in a serious fight, Shiki produces fist-weapons rather like spiked brass knuckles set into gloves. Shikai name: Kobushi-heishi (Fist Soldier)_

_Kanda Peirce: 5'7" Medium-short black hair, dark blue eyes. Though the weakest in the group when it comes to raw reiatsu, his Shikai compensates. Shikai changes his blade slightly, making it a more ornate katana. Capable of draining reiatsu from a target on contact with the target's reiatsu and modifying the drained reiatsu to replenish Peirce's own. Shikai name: Katami (Memento)_

_Hades Nico: 5'1" Medium-long steel-grey hair, matching eyes. The member of the group with the most reiatsu (and the least height), Nico is a well-rounded fighter, competent in all areas and specializing in none. Shikai produces a glaive (sword-bladed spear) and the ability to manifest a single aiding 'dog' made up of solidified reishi. The dog acts independently of Nico, though it will follow his commands. Shikai name: Banken (Watchdog)_

_**Chapter 11**_

"Here~," Urahara sing-songed almost as soon as Ichigo had entered his shop, handing Ichigo something that appeared to be a brand-new cellphone.

Ichigo blinked, flipping it open and glancing at the screen, "Thanks?" he asked.

"It's merged with a Soul Pager. Soul Society and the Royal Guard can get a hold of you if they need to, now. The red light will blink if it's an emergency."

Ichigo nodded, "Thanks, that's really useful."

"Anyway, was there something you needed, Kurosaki-dono~?"

Ichigo rolled his eyes at the tone and form of address, but nodded. "I was wondering if it was possible to make gigai a little more capable of handling reiatsu-use. Sometimes Nico and Peirce have trouble keeping up with me when I use Shunpo in my body, and I'm going pretty slowly—I still need to train my body to be able to handle more."

"Well, now," presented with a challenge, Urahara's sing-song vanished. "I should be able to come up with something. A normal human body was the initial base for a gigai, but I don't see why I shouldn't be able to make them a little more versatile. Give me a few days and I'll have a better idea of what they'll be able to do—I can't make them capable of utilizing reiatsu as well as a spirit, obviously, but even so…"

Ichigo repressed the urge to smirk as Urahara trailed off into a scientific mutter. Looked like he'd given the man something to do. Something that wasn't likely to cause too much trouble, although you never knew, with Urahara.

_xxxx_

School again, and Ichigo rolled his shoulders, working out the kinks that bending over a desk inevitably created. School sometimes felt so _mundane_ compared to everything he'd been through and everything else he was dealing with.

It was, oddly, almost nice.

Then his badge started to chirp it's alarm for a Hollow—which ended quickly as Katsumi took care of it.

Ichigo blinked—there was something… _pulling_ at him. Not a physical tug, but a strong desire to leave the classroom, to go towards the city center.

And the Hollow alert started up again, only to be silenced.

Ichigo frowned, glancing sideways at his bodyguards, wondering what was going on. Sure, Ishida hadn't shown up today, down with a bad case of the flu, but he wouldn't be wandering around helping Katsumi take out Hollows.

A third alarm, then a fourth in quick succession. The desire to leave grew stronger, and was now backed up with a reason. Ichigo stood, pulling out his phone as it began to buzz, red light flashing.

Ochi-sensei nodded to him, a worried frown on her face, and Nico and Peirce quickly moved to follow as their liege strode to the door.

Chad and Inoue shifted as though to stand, but stayed in their seats at a gesture from Ichigo, understanding. If there were so many hollows appearing—and Ichigo's badge had begun to put up a constant shrill, thankfully unnoticeable by non-spiritually aware humans—someone should be there to protect the school.

Ichigo stepped into the hall and shunpo'd off, Nico and Peirce scrambling to keep up.

_xxxx_

"Who the hell broke Hollow bait?" Ichigo snapped to Katsumi as he flashed to her side, his body left behind on a rooftop under the care of the other two Royal Guard.

"Is that what happened?" She asked, sounding surprised, even as Honda shunpo'd in to their left, slashing at Hollows with an unsheathed blade.

"What else could it be?" Ichigo demanded, sending a crescent of blue energy through a cluster of Hollows in the air. "And _something_ sure as hell was making me want to come here."

The desire actually had grown stronger as he neared the city center, where most of the Hollows were gathering.

Katsumi frowned, lowering her guard a little.

Ichigo snapped off another wordless Getsuga, aiming for an opening Garganta. The Hollows waiting to step through were purified before they even entered the Living World, the Garganta collapsing upon itself with nothing left to sustain it. "Pay attention!"

Katsumi blinked, remembering herself. "Hai, Kurosaki-dono!" A quick burst of Kido took down another advancing Hollow.

"Damn it," Ichigo thought franticly for a moment, then yanked out his phone and hit the speed-dial for Soul Society.

An unsurprised Yamamoto answered, "Kurosaki-dono," the title was given grudgingly, "we are sending reinforcements."

"Do you have anything to reverse the effects of Hollow bait?"

A pause, "I will contact the Twelfth."

"Good," Ichigo sidestepped a clumsy attack from a newly-formed Garganta behind him and let his reiatsu return to its natural state, then turned and sliced the presuming Hollow down the middle, returning his phone to his pocket to keep it from getting broken.

The Hollows swarmed.

In moments a Senkaimon opened at ground level, several Shinigami running out with drawn Zanpakto. He recognized most of them—Toshiro and Byakuya leading, Rukia, Renji, Ikkaku, Matsumoto, and Yumichika among them—and it was a relief to have Hyorinmaru and Senbonzakura immediately join the battle.

Byakuya stayed on ground-level as Toshiro took to the skies, Hyorinmaru's main attack, like Zangetsu's, unsuited for street-fighting.

Matsumoto followed the Captains' lead and unsealed Heineko, she and Rukia sticking to the ground as Renji flashed up to join the others in warding off Hollows from the multiple Garganta that crowded the sky.

Then Ichigo saw a flash of blue—a single arrow that he was not happy to have seen. If Ishida was only shooting _one_ at a time like this, he really was in bad shape.

"Yo," a Cheshire grin had Ichigo smirking back.

"Hey, good to see you."

The Vizard joined the fight.

Ichigo left Shinji and Hiyori to take his place for the moment, flash-stepping down to where Ishida stood, wavering, pale and clearly unwell.

"Damn it, Ishida, we've got this covered! Get home!"

Not much to Ichigo's surprise, the Quincy stumbled—Ichigo caught him with no difficulty.

"Kurosaki-dono!"

"Honda," Ichigo returned, glancing consideringly at the clearly unfit-to-fight Quincy. "Take Ishida back to my place, and if it looks like he's not going to stay put, sic my father on him. Then go make sure my sisters' school stays safe." It was far enough away that it would _probably_ be ok, but better safe than sorry.

The Guardsman saluted, fist to heart, "Hai, Kurosaki-dono!" He slung Ishida's arm over his shoulder and flash-stepped away to only a mild protest from the Quincy.

Minutes passed with Hollows being decimated by the hundreds before another Senkaimon opened and Kurotsuchi Nemu stepped out, holding something blue. She paused as Ichigo flashed to a halt in front of her, blinking as three Hollows were purified before she had even known they were converging on her. "Nemu," he greeted. "That it?"

"Hai, Kurosaki-dono," the lieutenant of the Twelfth stated, "It should be crushed as close to the place that the Hollow bait was as possible, but we have been unable to determine—"

Ichigo held out a hand, "No problem." He'd been wanting to go stand near that stupid street sign the entire fight.

_xxxx_

The blue stuff started working as soon as it was crushed, much the same way that Hollow bait did. No new Garganta formed, and it was fairly easy to clear out the ranks of low-level Hollows that remained.

The smarter ones even fled back to Hueco Mundo with nothing drawing them closer but a bunch of—dangerous—reiatsu signatures. Reports came in from all corners as sections of the city were confirmed clear.

Ichigo shunpo'd over to Nemu, "Hey," he greeted, blinking as she startled. Then he remembered he had his reiatsu incomprehensible, and shifted it back to a level others could sense. "Sorry, forgot about that. Anyway, thanks for bringing that. Do you think it's possible to track down who activated the Hollow bait?"

Nemu considered for several seconds, "I'm afraid not, Kurosaki-dono."

"Eh, it was worth asking," Ichigo shrugged, "Thanks anyway. Look, I've got to go. See you around, Nemu."

"Goodbye, Kurosaki-dono." Nemu's farewell was to empty air as the young Spirit King combined Shunpo and Sonido, vanishing in a tremble of sound.

Ichigo halted in front of the gathered Vizard, noting their relaxed stances, even in the presence of half a squad's worth of Shinigami as Byakuya and Toshiro rounded up their forces as the last Hollows were eliminated.

That was good to see, if odd.

Shinji's Cheshire grin turned towards the youngest Vizard and Ichigo smirked in return.

"Yo—Hollow bait? A lot of it, too."

"Yeah," Ichigo rolled his shoulders, "Kinda sucks. The entire fight I was just wanting to go down where the stuff was activated."

Shinji's grin wavered into puzzlement, "I didn't feel anything like that."

"Neither did I," Hiyori volunteered.

Shaken heads from all the other Vizard. Ichigo only shrugged—he'd already known he was different in that his Hollow was a part of himself. The others had _killed_ theirs. It would make sense that there were differences in how—or _if_—they reacted to certain Hollow-oriented chemicals. "Doesn't surprise me. Anyway, thanks for coming to help out—this could have gotten messy without you guys."

As it was, there was very little damage to the buildings and, while the people had understandably fled when the first set of Hollow-claws scored the ground, they were starting to gain the courage to peek out windows and doors all around.

Byakuya cleared his throat carefully, gaining Ichigo's attention. "It would be best if we returned to Soul Society," he gestured to the group of Shinigami, "There are enough of us here that our power may effect the humans nearby if we do not."

Ichigo nodded, "Thanks," his glance swept across the group at large, including them in the thanking. "See you guys later, then."

Toshiro opened the Senkaimon, nodding to Ichigo as he stepped aside to allow lower-ranked Shinigami to file through. In moments, the entire group had left and Ichigo sighed, glancing back to the Vizard. "I've got to get back to school. I'll drop in on you guys later."

Various Vizard grinned or smiled at him, offering farewells. Hiyori's was slightly less polite—she scowled, "You'd better, baka Strawberry!"

Ichigo couldn't help the smirk as he flash-stepped back to his body and the waiting Nico and Peirce, using his phone to check where Katsumi and Honda were.

He stopped in front of the three Royal Guard on the rooftop and called Honda. "Everything clear at the school?"

At the affirmative, and the elaboration that only one Hollow had showed—which was one Hollow too many for the school to have been left undefended—Ichigo thanked the man and told him the situation had been handled. "You can head home if you want," he added.

"Thank you, Kurosaki-dono," came from the phone, and Ichigo flipped it closed, ending the call with rolled eyes. They were _never_ going to call him by his name. "Same for you, Katsumi. Feel free to head home."

She smiled, "Thank you, Kurosaki-dono."

Ichigo rolled his eyes again, slipping back into his body and glancing to Nico and Peirce, "We'd better get back to school while we can. At least we can get the homework assignment."

Murmurs of agreement reached his ears as he used significantly slowed-down Shunpo to head down to ground and started walking, Nico and Peirce moments behind.

_xxxx_


End file.
